Take Back McKinleyville!

We, the undersigned residents of McKinleyville and patrons of the McKinleyville Shopping Center, implore you to take immediate and more effective measures to curb the plague of transients that make the MSC their home. This is out of control, and it needs to stop.

Every day there are social media reports of the hangabouts harassing, panhandling, and stealing from residents and merchants alike. They will walk into Safeway, and walk out with baskets of products with impunity. Alcohol and drug use is rampant, especially in the gazebo area, and in the greenbelt behind Safeway. The security guards have very little power to control them, and they know this. The sheriff won’t respond unless there is a restraining order issued against specific people.

Not only are the patrons and customers suffering, but the merchants are as well. Every day we hear reports of people saying that they are taking their business elsewhere due to the unsafe atmosphere in the area, be it experienced or perceived. We need our businesses to succeed if we are going to move forward as a community, and the current atmosphere there is an extreme hindrance.

Please, step forward with additional measures to make our citizens feel safe in our center of town…because we are running out of patience.

Thank you for your consideration regarding this very disheartening situation.